Haunting Ground
Haunting Ground, known in Japan as Demento (デメント), is a PlayStation 2 exclusive survival horror game and a spin-off in the Clock Tower series. It was developed and published by Capcom on April 21, 2005 in Japan, April 25, 2005 in North America and May 10, 2005 in Europe. After Clock Tower 3, Capcom's studio went on to develop Haunting Ground. As a spin-off to the Clock Tower series, the game bears many similarities such as stalkers, a panic system and hiding places. It has been rumored that Haunting Ground was originally developed as Clock Tower 4. Haunting Ground received poor sales due to little marketing, as well as the fact that Resident Evil 4 had been released around the same time. Physical copies of the game are usually rare and expensive. The game received mixed reviews and holds a 67 on Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-2/haunting-ground Despite this, the game has received a strong cult following. Plot Teenager Fiona Belli has just been involved in a car crash with her parents, but her memories of this accident are vague. When she awakens, she finds herself in a cage in a cellar. Noting that the cage that keeps her prisoner was left unlocked, she steps out but is startled by a fierce dog snarling and then running past her. She quickly begins searching for some answers and a way out of the castle she is in but the main entrance is locked and the castle perimeter is secured with walls. Fiona meets Daniella, the castle's maid, who provides her with basic clothing but leaves before she can ask any questions. In a corridor, Fiona finds Debilitas, a large mentally disabled hunchbacked man who believes Fiona is a doll for him to play with. He is hostile and chases Fiona around the castle but is stopped by Riccardo, the castle's keeper. Riccardo tells her that her parents, Ugo and Ayla, died in a car crash and that she is the heir to Belli Castle. Confused and disturbed, Fiona faints and later wakes up on a bed in the guestroom. She hears whimpering from outside and finds the dog from before tied to a tree with a wire. Fiona befriends him, a white German Shepherd named Hewie and valuable ally. As Fiona's predicament gets more and more disturbing, she learns that she is the carrier of the Azoth, which is what the castle's residents are after. She finds letters and memos given to her by a man named Lorenzo who wants to help her escape the castle. Fiona and Hewie are chased by Debilitas to the chapel. The way in which the player ultimately eliminates Debilitas influences the outcome of the endings; Fiona can either kill him, or spare his life by dropping a chandelier onto him. Soon after Fiona has rid herself of Debilitas, Daniella reappears to serve Fiona dinner. Daniella becomes jealous that Fiona can smell, taste, touch and "experience pleasure". This foreshadows her later intimation, immediately before her boss battle, that she cannot engage in sexual intercourse. While Fiona is resting in one of the castle's rooms, Daniella bashes her head against a window until it shatters, then wields a large shard of broken glass and pursues her with it. Fiona eventually indirectly kills Daniella by impaling her with a large shard of broken glass from the ceiling. While exploring the castle, Riccardo chases Fiona with a flintlock pistol. Riccardo keeps his face hidden under a hood, though reveals his face and his plot to Fiona after cornering her in the woods. He has the same face as Fiona's father, Ugo, and reveals that they are clones and that he is the original. Riccardo murdered Ugo after attempting to kill him in the car crash as revenge for leaving the castle and marrying Ayla, Fiona's mother. He plans to use Fiona by means of her womb and use of her Azoth to help him be reborn so that he may live forever. Hewie rescues Fiona and assists in their escape from the tower in which Riccardo keeps Fiona imprisoned. During the battle with Riccardo on the top of the tower, Riccardo falls off, resulting in his death. Fiona enters the House of Truth and meets Lorenzo, her alchemist grandfather who menaces her in several different forms. She first meets Lorenzo as an old, crippled man. He tells Fiona how Riccardo was always the "problem child", and that he created both Riccardo and Ugo in attempts to find a body with Azoth he could use. Ugo had the Azoth but left the castle to marry Ayla. Now that he knows Fiona is finally his, he can take the Azoth she inherited from Ugo. He rids himself of his wheelchair and crawls on the floor in order to chase Fiona. After crushing the elder Lorenzo in a machine, Fiona encounters a resurrected, youthful Lorenzo; the Azoth, which he took from Riccardo's corpse using mouth-to-mouth, allows him mastery over his own aging process, as well as the ability to teleport. Fiona, with the help of Hewie, causes Lorenzo to fall into a pit of lava. Immediately after defeating young Lorenzo, the castle begins to shake and collapse, and Lorenzo returns a final time as a flaming skeleton. He chases Fiona, but finally dies as she and Hewie escape the castle. Endings * (A) "Fortes Fortuna Juvat" ("Fortune helps the brave") - Fiona struggles to get the key into the lock. Hewie calms her fears and she manages to unlock the door. However, Hewie begins barking which catches Fiona's attention. From the double doors, Debilitas comes out with hedge clippers. In a tense and awkward moment, Fiona and Debilitas stare at each other. Debilitas then simply bows to Fiona, showing that he means no more harm to her, and possibly thanking her for sparing his life. With that, she and Hewie leave the castle. Debilitas looks at the overgrown trees in the garden and begins clipping them as he hums to himself. To get this ending, the player must defeat Debilitas using the chandelier. This does not kill Debilitas, but rather causes him to retreat and thus no longer pose a threat for Fiona during the remainder of the game. This is considered as the best ending. * (B) "Ignis Aurum Probat" ("Fire tests gold") - similar to Ending A, except that Debilitas does not appear. As Fiona is opening the castle gate, she stares at the castle for a few moments, before turning and following Hewie into the forest. To get this ending, the player must have Fiona kill Debilitas. * © "Dona Nobis Pacem" ("Grant us peace") - similar to Ending A, except that Debilitas does not appear. Lorenzo calls out to Fiona not to go and falls down the stairs, loathing the fact that she has left. To get this ending, the game must be completed once. Debilitas must be defeated with the chandelier. Fiona must visit Debilitas in his hut, where he will give her the "Smudged Key" that opens one of the locked bathroom stalls, which reveals a hidden cellar. In that cellar, Fiona finds the key to the castle's main gate. * (D) "Tu Fui, Ego Eris" ("What you are, I was. What I am, you will be") - Fiona wakes up in a glass box where Riccardo taunts her and says she belongs to him. She screams in her frustration. Later, in a castle bedroom, Riccardo tenderly strokes Fiona's head and her bulging stomach, as she is now heavily pregnant. As he walks away, she wakes, gives a faint smile, and issues a hollow laugh. To obtain this ending, Fiona must have a bad relationship with Hewie when she faints in the forest. Hewie does not save Fiona, either due to dying from Riccardo's gun attack or out of apathy due to Fiona mistreating him. Gameplay Fiona must be guided through Belli Castle, its grounds and outbuildings until she can find a way to escape. Along the way, players must solve puzzles, unlock doors and evade, hide or attempt to fight back against the castle's inhabitants. Fiona is accompanied by Hewie and the duo must work as a team to solve certain puzzles and outwit their pursuers. The castle's inhabitants chase and attack Fiona, and if evaded long enough will cease for a set interval. While it is possible to retaliate with kicks, Hewie's bites, or alchemically created weapons, evading enemies and finding hiding spots is emphasized. The castle's residents chase Fiona individually until defeated in a boss battle, after which a different enemy will pursue Fiona. Two enemies exist in addition to the castle's keepers, neither are dangerous to Fiona but can alert Fiona's pursuers to her location and cause panic. The first are small floating orbs of blue light known as Luminessants, which follow Fiona and emit a loud noise if they come into contact with her. The other enemy type are fetus-like disfigured homunculi, who attach themselves to Fiona's legs while letting out a piercing yell. Hewie joins Fiona early in the game, following different commands to perform actions like barking or growling when he detects a trap or threat. He can be commanded to stay, follow, attack, fetch and to shake hands. In order to maintain a good relationship with her new companion, Fiona must issue commands to Hewie, praising or scolding him depending on whether or not he obeys. Praising or healing him when he becomes injured also maintains his interest. Hewie will ignore Fiona's commands and wander off if not given enough attention, and if he is repeatedly mistreated he may even attack her. Hewie can be knocked unconscious from sustaining too many injuries but can be revived, however, in Hard Mode, he is slain after receiving the same level of injuries, causing the game to end. When faced with certain events or prolonged enemy attacks and chases, Fiona becomes fearful. If Fiona becomes too terrified, she will enter panic mode and run. Panic mode causes motion blur, desaturation of the environment and a freeze-frame effect, and the controller vibrates to Fiona's heartbeat. The player is unable to stop Fiona running and must try to prevent her from running into walls and objects. Running into scenery causes her to collapse and crawl away; at this point further damage will kill her. Hewie can only be called for help during panic mode, encouraging him to attack any pursuer and prevent Fiona from being killed. If enemies are avoided long enough, panic mode ends. Unlockables Unlock Hard Mode and Secret Room: *To unlock both Hard Mode and the Secret Room, beat the game once. Costumes: *Illegal in Some States (Fiona): Finish the game once with Ending A or B. *Texas Cowgirl (Fiona): Finish the game once with Ending A. *Fiona the Frog (Fiona): Beat the game with Ending C. *German Shepherd (Hewie): Finish the game once. *Stuffed Toy (Hewie): Beat the game on Hard Mode. *Alternate enemy costumes: Play Hard Mode. A full list of all unlockable costumes, how to get them, special abilities, and information about them can be found here. Plate Key Unlockables: *A number of items, including neck chokers and boots that gives Fiona special abilities can also be unlocked by imputing secret/cheat words into the typewriter to get a Plate Key for each, which then rewards the player with said item once used. Trivia * The ending "Tu Fui, Ego Eris" shares the same name with a line spoken by Heather after reading a story document in the Otherworld in Silent Hill 3. * Haunting Ground has many similarities with another PlayStation 2 exclusive game, Rule of Rose. Both protagonists are English female blonde orphans in their late teens and also have a demure personality. The protagonists rescue a dog that will help them during the rest of the game, which assists them by finding hidden objects, barking at enemies and also attacking the enemies. * The exact setting of the game is unknown, but because of names like "Fiona", "Riccardo", "Lorenzo" and "Belli", it's possible to been located in Italy, also known for the fluent Latin language roots during the plot. Unconfirmed voices also talk about "Provence", a French region on the Alps confining with Italy. It is also possible that it is set in England, due to the English accents. * The word "Demento", the Japanese name of the game, is Latin for a deranged, mentally disturbed, or lunatic, a possible hint at the residents of the castle and the game style. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/demento http://www.latin-dictionary.org/Latin-English-Dictionary/demento Resident Evil similarities *''Haunting Ground'' draft scenario writer, Noboru Sugimura, wrote the scenario draft for Biohazard / Resident Evil 4 Prototype which had a girl and a dog. He was also the scenario writer for many previous Biohazard / Resident Evil games. * The controls for Hewie are similar to the commands (and possibly a modified engine) of the Resident Evil: Outbreak series. For example, down is "come here/come on!", up is "go!", right is "good boy/thank you" and R3 is "stay/wait!". *In Biohazard 4/Resident Evil 4 Beta/Prototype (dubbed 3.5), there is a doll room with dolls and Mannequins, similar to the Mannequin room in the library and doll/child room in Haunting Ground. * The "Plate Key Machine" is a possible nod to the typewriter of the Resident Evil games. * Riccardo's gun sound is similar to the Colt S.A.A. from Resident Evil 2. Fiona's secret costume gun sound is also re-cycled from Resident Evil. * The inventory click sounds are similar to the inventory sounds from Resident Evil for the GameCube/Wii. * In Resident Evil, the player uses herbs to heal and restore health. In Haunting Ground, the items Mundus, Torva and Sedetio appear very similar. Plot similarities with Clock Tower 3 Haunting Ground bears some plot similarities with Clock Tower 3. * The protagonists are both teenage girls (Fiona, Alyssa) who become orphaned during the game. The main antagonist is the protagonist's grandfather (Lorenzo, Dick), who wants to capture her in order to live for all eternity with them -- however, in order to do so, he must first take something from inside of her body (Azoth, Rooder Heart). Initially, the protagonist thinks of him as a good person, but she discovers that it is only a front. The protagonist refuses the opportunity to live with him forever and defeats him in the end. * Throughout the game, the female protagonist is aided by a male companion (Hewie, Dennis); in one part of the game, he is captured by the enemy and is needed to be rescued by her. * The protagonist's mother (Nancy Hamilton, Ayla Belli) is killed in a car crash, while their father (Philip Hamilton, Ugo) is killed by a sharp blade. Similarities with Clock Tower series * The main characters are both orphaned, female teenagers. * Both the main characters of Clock Tower: The First Fear and Haunting Ground free an animal (Jennifer can free a crow, Fiona frees Hewie). This animal later comes back to help the character fend off one of their stalkers: the crows kill Mary by leading her off a ledge; Hewie saves Fiona from Debilitas and, later, Riccardo. * The stamina system is quite similar: in Clock Tower: The First Fear and Haunting Ground, running and fighting off enemies decreases stamina, but crouching slowly recovers it. * Lavender, a calming herb in this game, is carried over from Clock Tower 3, where Alyssa could use Lavender Water to calm herself down from getting panic. * The save points in Haunting Ground are clocks, a possible homage to Clock Tower. * Clock Tower 3 and Haunting Ground feature moths that hinder the player's progress. * The game shares many sound effects with Clock Tower 3, such as footsteps and menu options. The "Weeping Stone" item emits the same sound as the ghosts' laugh from Clock Tower 3. * In ending A, Debilitas is seen clutching a large pair of garden shears, a possible homage to Scissorman and the Scissor Twins (Scissorman Ralph and Scissorwoman Jemima). * The game includes multiple endings, labeled alphabetically (A, B, C, D, etc). * In Haunting Ground, Clock Tower: The First Fear as well as in Clock Tower 3, at least one hiding spot can be given away by minor enemies of the protagonist. In Haunting Ground, Luminessants can give away Fiona's hiding spot. In The First Fear, the parrot in the bedroom will tell Scissorman if Jennifer is hiding beneath the bed. In Clock Tower 3, if the purple butterflies are present in the room where Alyssa is hiding, they can give away her hiding spot and maximize her panic. * In both Haunting Ground and Clock Tower: The First Fear, the protagonists can be attacked by bugs if they make a mistake in a puzzle: if Fiona examines the wrong equipment, Fiona will be ravaged and killed by cockroaches; in The First Fear, Jennifer will be attacked by a swarm of flies and cockroaches if she examines the meat locker without the insecticide. * The basic idea of a stalking chasing the protagonist and hiding is one of the most important gameplay mechanics in the Clock Tower series and Haunting Ground. * Some rooms are loosely based on rooms from Clock Tower: The First Fear, such as a child's bedroom with dolls. External links * English website * Japanese website * Demento-pedia * Demento-pedia (translated) Video Haunting Ground - Intro PS2|Intro demento - trailer|Trailer Haunting Ground|Trailer Demento 24 Death Scenes - 33 Possible Ways to Die!|Death scenes Haunting Ground 1080p running on PCSX2 1.1.0|The game widescreen hacked on PCSX2 Concept art HGart_(1).png HGart_(2).png HGart_(3).png HGart_(4).png HGart_(5).png HGart_(6).png HGart_(7).png HGart_(8).png HGart_(9).png HGart_(10).png HGart (11).png HGart (12).png HGart_(13).png HGart_(14).png HGart_(15).png HGart_(16).png HGart_(17).png HGart_(18).png HGart_(19).png HGart_(20).png HGart_(21).png HGart_(22).png HGart_(23).png HGart_(24).png HGart_(25).png HGart_(26).png HGart_(27).png HGart_(28).png HGart_(29).png HGart_(30).png HGart_(31).png HGart_(32).png HGart_(33).png HGart_(34).png HGart_(35).png HGart_(36).png HGart_(37).png HGart_(38).png HGart_(39).png HGart_(40).png HGart_(41).png HGart_(42).png HGart_(43).png HGart_(44).png HGart_(45).png HGart_(46).png HGart_(47).png HGart_(48).png Gallery Demento cover.jpg|The Japanese front cover Demento backside.jpg|The Japanese back cover Haunting Ground AU cover.jpg|The Australian front cover Haunting Ground EU cover.jpg|The European front cover Haunting Ground EU backside.jpg|The European back cover Haunting Ground US backside.jpg|The North American cover Category:Games Category:Haunting Ground